


Starship Lullabies

by van_daalen



Series: JD Shepard [6]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Fluff, gays in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 16:35:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11832675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/van_daalen/pseuds/van_daalen
Summary: Adjusting to a new sleep and work schedule is difficult. Adjusting to one when the person you're using as an example is an insomniac who hasn't slept properly in over a decade, on the other hand, is practically impossible.





	Starship Lullabies

    “Is everything alright?” A voice asked, nearly making Liara jump right out of her skin. Part of her almost reached for her pistol, mind still feeling the fear of her earlier predicament, still worried about being attacked at her dig site. Except she wasn’t there anymore. No, of course, she had been rescued. She was _safe_ now, even if her brain didn’t fully believe it. With that in mind she turned to the speaker, glancing up to see Commander Shepard in the doorway, standing with her head tilted to the side. A moment passed before Liara realized that she was supposed to respond.

“Oh, hello, Shepard... I’m fine, just a little tired,” she said, having to pause twice to yawn. Her eyelids felt awfully heavy, but she forced them to stay open, not wanting to accidentally offend the Commander. Although she had been on the ship for close to two weeks at that point, she was still having difficulty adjusting to the new sleep schedule. Humans, as Liara had learned, tended to be quite erratic with their patterns, which made syncing up with them practically impossible.

Or at least that’s what she thought.

“You should probably go to sleep, Doctor. It’s the middle of the night cycle- most of the crew is asleep,” Shepard replied. There was a pause, then a  _ ‘huh’ _ from the Asari, who quickly gave the Commander a confused look. As far as she knew (i.e. assumed), it was a perfectly acceptable time to be awake. Had she missed something? Or perhaps she had made a mistake while adjusting her clock?... No, that didn’t seem likely. She had made sure to pay attention to Shepard’s schedule- when she got up, when she made her rounds, etc- having been a tad nervous to approach any of the other crew members yet.

“I thought this was the time most wake up?” Liara said, suddenly getting a little flustered. The fact that Shepard tipped her head to the side, expressing confusion, and perked a brow only made things worse. A blush spread across the Asari’s face, her brain urging her to seek understanding. “You’ve gotten up every day around this time, then started your morning rounds, right? I, I thought-”

To her surprise, Shepard laughed a little at that before looking away sheepishly. It confused her even more. What had she missed? What was amusing?  _ And why did the Commander look so embarrassed? _

“Oh geez, ‘Doc… I’m not exactly the one you should be looking at as an example. At least not when it comes to getting a quality night’s rest,” Shepard explained, rubbing the back of her head while flashing an awkward smile. There was a strange twinge in her eyes, half amusement, half apologetic. “I have something that humans call insomnia- not sure what the Asari equivalent would be, sorry- that makes it really hard for me to fall asleep, or stay asleep. I stopped trying to fix it years ago, so these days I just… roll with it. Three in the morning is a pretty popular time for me to wake up then not be able to fall back asleep. Chakwas gets on my case about it, but I usually use the time for something at least vaguely productive… and that works for me.”

Liara took a moment to process the information, still blushing, then took a deep breath. She felt rather foolish, really. There was no reason for her to… but she felt like she should have realized that Shepard’s schedule was anything but normal (or healthy, for that matter). Quietly she raised a hand to massage her temple, needing to let herself relax a little. When she glanced back up, Shepard was still in the doorway, leaning against it casually, looking more flustered than most would consider possible.

“Uh, Doc… if you want, I can pull some resources together, maybe see about getting you a mini guide to help you adjust to the ship’s time cycle. Properly adjust, I mean,” Shepard offered. It took a moment, but Liara brought herself to reply, fighting back yet another yawn as she did.

“I’d appreciate that. Thank you, Shepard.” With that the Commander gave a broader smile and nodded. After a quick glance at a device on her wrist, she chuckled a little, looked back up, and spoke once more.

“Alright, I’ll try to have that to you by tomorrow night. In the meantime… get some sleep. Alright, T’soni? We’ve got a long road ahead of us, so to speak, and you’ll need the rest,” Shepard said, gently pushing herself off of the doorframe. “As for me… well, what’s another night without sleep? Heh, maybe I’ll have that guide done by the time you get back up! Guess we’ll have to see, eh?... G’night, Doc.”

After that she left, once more leaving Liara alone to her exhaustion. Minding the Commander’s suggestion, she let herself slip into bed, ignoring the still unfamiliar comfort of its sheets. It wasn’t long before she felt herself drifting off.... Later, when she awoke, she’d find her omni-tool’s message indicator blinking, as well as an extensive, step-by-step guide to switching from a standard Asari time cycle to a human one.

Just as the Commander had offered.


End file.
